Trusting

This week I have been reminded that my children are in God's hands. I tend to forget that. Even though I gave them back to Him as a baby I tend to think of them as just mine. Which is why I wanted to go through the power of praying parent book. Because I need to have God in there. Well I came to the place where my dreams for my child met the reality of the situation. The reality is not what I wanted, not what I planned yet it is where we are right now. I was very very upset about it until God reminded me on the way to work the next day that He has had my son in His hands and that He has no intention of just letting my son go. He reminded me who was in control. That helped a whole lot. I am still sad that I cannot change the situation but I am released from the worry knowing that my son is in God's hands and no matter the outcome somehow God will be in it and get glory from it. What an awesome God we serve.

Route 52 book

OK, so the book that I switched to is called. Route 52 - A 52 week Bible Journey Just for Kids. It is more of a Sunday School teacher book. Don't panic I am not a teacher but I think it will work. It is broken down into 12 months with 4 lessons a month.

So I have done two weeks now out of this book. Here is how I am using this teachers guide to do our devotions each morning. Since we only have 10-12 minutes I take each Sunday's lesson and make it work for the whole week. It does take a bit more time so we are working on our morning time management but the kids really are liking it so far. Using each Sunday for the whole week makes it less stressful for me to do it too.

My kids are still young enough that worksheets and games are fun so it is working. So for example our theme this month is the Jesus Birth Helps me Worship and it talks about God keeping his promises. We have all month to learn the bible verse and if we get it they give you a second one you can learn. Each weeks lesson is broken down into sections so we just do a section each morning. The Bible Search is a section (I like this one because I get to teach them how to use their Bibles and looks stuff up in it), Bible story is one section (It is told out of the workbook about what it says in the Bible that we read the day before, for example our first story was told by Zechariah and his encounter with Gabriel, working on our verse with worksheets or games is a section, Then the last few days of the week if we have time we go over some questions they have in the book or finish our project for the week if there was one.

So far my kids are loving it. It does take some time on my part ahead of time to make sure I get the pages copied and just set up the week. But over all I am liking it a lot. The biggest downfall for me is that it does not say right in the workbook to pray after every section... so if we are rushed on time we sometimes have to pray in the car because I forgot. The little devotion books I did before had the prayer as part of the devotion and we just added our part to it.

We only have 8 more days of school so I will be switching over to our summer book and will post about it then. We will pick this book back up in time for the next chapter/month's theme.

Devotion Time with the kids...

As a working mom of two kids I find time management my biggest struggle. Time for the kids, the housework, the yard work, devotion time, time with my husband, my job, etc. There are days when it seems I have no time for any of that or such limite time. Devotion time for myself is very hard to find. It is not a habbit that I learned as a child, and it is one I struggle with daily as an adult. I love it when I do get that time alone with just God and myself. As my children have gotten old enough to read I felt that I needed to start devotion time with them so that they can learn it now before the pressures of others things press in and maybe they will not struggle as I did with the time factor for devotions.

It has taken us about two years to figure it out time wise. Summers are worse because we do not have as strict a schedule and we do not have just one sitter so every day in the week can be different. But during the school year we found the time and all three of us love the time we get to spend together and in God's word. We worked our morning routine so that we have about 18 minutes of free time between getting ready for work and school and getting on the bus. I admit that I have to really watch the clock and stay on them to get things done in that time frame but for the most part it works and when it does not they get upset we did not have time. But for the most part it works and we love it. We only wish that Daddy could be there with us. (He has to be at work before any of us get up.)

Finding something we can do in that short of time has also been a challange. For about a year we have been doing this series of books.. Little Book Devotions 31 Daily Devotionals published by Brighton Books. They are pretty neat. For 31 days you are on one topic, like sharing, kindess, forginess etc. Since we usually only do devotion time during the week it takes us over a month to do the whole book. I like the format, it is simple and you get kid tips and parent tips, bible verses to learn and a short prayer. It really helped me to get started since I had no clue how to do devotions with my kids. After we went through all the books I could find at my local Christian book store. I needed to do something new. My next post will be on one of the two new books we are going to try.

I just wanted to get out there the books I have been using and how much that the kids and I both love the time we get to spend together learning. There is just something about learning together and seeing them get it that gives me such joy!

Prayer Journal and stuff...

OK, still not sure where I am going but I did have the idea to get a Parent Prayer Journal so that I can keep track of things.

So here is how I am setting up my journal (which is just a spiral notebook left over from my kids school supplies)...

• I broke it down into four sections (as time goes on this might change), one for my daughter, one for my son, one for the other children and families that I will be praying for, and one for myself and the things God does in my life.


• I plan on each entry having a date, the request, and then space to leave for updates and answers to prayer.

Also along this journey I am going to try to share what we are doing with our kids, like what devotion books we use, our church stuff, our routines etc. Because I feel that there is not a lot of this out there for me. I will also try to post encouraging things that come across, or books that I think have been helpful. I certainly have not perfected in any way this process and as a working mom not sure of my time management but we will just take one step at a time together.

As I found out when I read the Power of a praying wife, that God does a lot of changing of me which then allows Him to do whatever needs done to my husband. I am expecting this book to be a lot of the same. Which is exciting to see become the mom that my kids need instead of trying to force my kids to be the kids I want them to be.

I meet tonight with the first set of parents that wants to join me on this journey. They will get their copy of the book and I am going to give us two weeks to get through the first chapter as we both lead very busy full lives and I do not want this to become overwhelming in any way. That way we have time to set up our journals and see where God is going to take us.

Prayer One

Lord,
I submit myself to You. I realize that parenting a child in the way You would have me to is beyond my human abilities. I know I need You to help me. I want to partner with You and partake of Your gifts of wisdom, discernment, revelation, and guidance. I also need Your strength and patience, along with a generous portion of Your love flowing through me. Teach me how to love the way You love. Where I need to be healed, delivered, changed, matured, or made whole, I invite You to do that in me. Help me to walk in righteousness and integrity before You. Teach me Your ways, enable me to obey Your commandments and do only what is pleasing in Your sight. May the beauty of Your Spirit be so evident in me that I will be a godly role model. Give me the In Jesus' name I ask that You will increase my faith to believe for all the things You've put on my heart to pray for concerning this child.


(Prayers taken from The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian)

A journey

OK, my thoughts today are on raising my children in the pathway that God wants. I know that as a parent I have already failed to do just that. But as I start this new book ...Power of a praying parent.... I am encouraged to begin to let God take over. I am not by any means saying I know what I am doing, I have no clue. I am not good at prayer, I am not good at letting God work, I tend to be very self reliant. But as I move forward and try to let God have his way I am asking if others would like to join me?

As I go through the book, I plan to post the prayers in each chapter. I hope to have others join me and this be a place where we can list our concerns for our children and have others join us in prayer, and in advise, and in encouragement. A safe place where we do not judge others. I for one have already failed how can I judge someone else. We are not perfect parents. There will not be pat answers. Every child is different and I believe that the path God has called each of them on is also different. I have no clue how to do what I am doing now, I am just putting my feelings out there for others to see.

I have thought about this and prayed about it and I got my daily devotional this morning and it was pretty much confirmed that I need to take this journey with other parents. Please know my intentions are only to bring God into my children's lives and my own, as well as others who join me here, not to say I have the answers, or know how to do it. I do not.

So as we move forward, together with God as our head and each other as support, let us lift our own lives up to Him for his teaching that we may lead our children in His ways and His truths and His paths.

Much like the sea, life is constantly changing. New things have just come to light and the worries that come with change arrives too. I am reminded to seek out the one who controls the seas to control these changes and help our choices and the choices out of our control be totally in His will and in the direction we are feeling lead. Please join us in prayer that God guides and leads and the right changes happen! Our God is an awesome God!

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of
coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things
were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted
to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem
was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and
placed each on a high gas . Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first she
placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed
ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots
out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a
bowl

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her
daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and
noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg
and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma The daughter then asked, "What does it
mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong,
hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it
softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile . Its thin outer shell had
protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water,
its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however.
After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain
and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat?
Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship
or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the
same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened
heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the
very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases
the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their
worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is
the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another
level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

The words below were emailed to me. This along with an email I got regarding Jim have inspired me to seek out what my purpose is. To know why I am here without a doubt and what my goal for the Lord is to be. To know that God draws us ever into a place where He wants us to be so that when the times comes we are ready to worship him forever. Thank you Jim and Millie for your example and inspiration! You both are in our prayers. Thank you Tom for this reminder.



You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having “wealth” from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, “Purpose Driven Life” author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, “What is the purpose of life?” And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either, you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Spirit likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, “which is my problem, my issues, my pain.” But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.

That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

My Awesome GOD!

God is so good! I am very very blessed. I rolled my car two days ago and today I was back to work with no pain. God held me in my seat and prevented me from bodily harm. I know that He has something for me to do and I have learned a very important lesson in trust through this. I know I can trust him with my very life. I have struggled with trust forever and it is something that God and I have been working to build. I can see more and more where he is showing me that I can trust him. I know I am so blessed and I thank him for my life and all the blessings that He has given me.

God is faithful!

These past few weeks have been hard for me. But in the same time frame God has shown me that He is there for me. He has breathed for me when I felt overwhelmed with the pain of parting. I know that God is in control of both our lives however it does not make loosing your best friend any easier. I am excited to see where He is taking both of us in this next step in our lives. He is so faithful even when things are rough! See here His awesome beauty in this waterfall. It was so great to be up in the mountains and see all around me His splendor! My God is an awesome God through the ups and downs! On the way home we where on the twisty turny roads and it kind reminded me that God is God no matter if I am going up or down! I am so blessed to have seen His splendor this past few days!

Truly blessed!

This was in my online daily devotional (Blue words). And it came to me right after an email from just such a friend yesterday. I am so reminded of how blessed I am to have some pretty amazing friends and a God who put us together.

In one of our exchanges he wrote, “In any event, if you ever get discouraged or need a sounding board, please don't hesitate to contact me. My brow may be thick, but my shoulders are broad, and candidly, not too much surprises me anymore.”

I love that. You don't hear this kind of thing from just anybody. In fact if you hear it at all, you are a fortunate person. His statement contains two elements necessary before a relationship can grow: a willingness to bear another's burden and a commitment to total acceptance.
Though they are sufficiently broad, the shoulders he's offering are not physical; they are emotional. We are all called to “bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ,” and later “for each one will bear his own load.” (Galatians 6:2, 5) That is to say: There are burdens and then there are burdens. There are certain weights of responsibility we are all expected to carry, but there will always be heavy loads too big for one set of shoulders. This is when we need someone to help shoulder our burden.
Keeping in mind that shouldering a burden doesn't mean solving it; it means simply to help carry it. Men usually have more trouble with this than women, because we naturally want to fix things. But this, of course, is impossible. It's a burden precisely because we can't fix it. No one can except God, and he for some reason unknown to us has chosen not to.
Then there's the second part: If I'm going to bear up under someone else's burden, I've got to be willing to take whatever they've got. Sometimes the very nature of a burden is that it is something we don't want anyone to know - a dark secret that does not want to be told. This is exactly why we bear too much alone; we have too much to hide and too much at stake.
My new friend's invitation cut through all of this self-protection. “Not too much surprises me anymore,” he said. In essence, he was leaving an open door on telling him anything. If our relationships are shallow, it is because they are defined by what is comfortable. We live by unwritten laws not to rock the boat while we drift by each other, waving casually from our respective sinking ships.
The reality of a relationship is measured by the level of truth about yourself you are willing to impart to another person. And if you have someone who does not require you to measure everything before you say it, you have a real friend.

Home

Home! I really am glad to be back. AZ was beautiful however the dust and sand were just to much. I missed having grass to walk on and the kids staynig clean. I must say that God's mountians were specatular. Everything out there seemed to have teeth. The plants, the bugs, everything. It was so amazing to hear and see different kinds of God's handiwork. And I do have to thank God for keeping us all safe on the plane ride there and back. I had to cling to Him a lot on the flight out the turbulance was awful but He was strong when I was weak and He helped me make it a fun trip for the kids instead of seeing me freak out. God is awesome not only in the beauty He surounds us with daily but in His loving care for us daily as well.

Life is amazing!

God is so amazing! Even when I stumble and fall and don't learn the first time He is patient to teach me! And I totally love spring! I love seeing all the new life and beauty that comes out in the spring. I see my life like that. I am so dead and ugly and each day little tiny changes take place and then one day I will be beautiful. And it does not stop there, the trees flower to in some way reproduce either with the pollen to make new seeds or to grow fruit that in the end has the seeds! It is so exciting to see His beauty and it just blesses my soul daily. I have been watching and amazed at the trees and nature in general come alive and be beautiful! That is my praise and my prayer! That God is changing me into something beautiful from something dead and that I will continue to grow and change and share His love!

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